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A storm is always ready, are you?

Would you know what to do if a storm brings down an overhead power line? If a car crash causes a padmount transformer to become dislodged?

What about a flooded basement or other area of your home? Would you step in that water to begin cleanup?

Severe storms can create potential electrical dangers, and electricity is something you cannot see, hear, taste or smell. Electricity is often taken for granted that it will work as it should. However, any number of conditions, including storms and their aftermath, can change that.

“Hollywood is giving us some sort of idea that if there’s a downed power line, that it is going to be crackling and smoking and there’s going to be a flame shooting out of it,” says line foreman Bob Schafer. “That’s not how it works. It’s really a silent killer.”

We assume electricity is always going to be there and that it is always going to be safe, and it is safe the vast majority of the time. Learn what to do when it is not and how your body could become its path to ground.

Besides downed power lines, storms can also leave standing water, which could be energized. “Any low-lying areas where you may have outlets or light fixtures could become energized, so you may end up with energized water in your basement, crawl space (or other damp or flooded area)” warns Schafer.